Tourist&#39;s travel indicator



. 1,517,605 E. B. WARR; N

TOURISTS TRAVEL INDICATOR Filed July 7, 1923 Ji'g. E.

Epama I LL 837 5 11B m" 8 gnueflfoz Edward Warren.

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Patented Dec. 2, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Application filed July 7, 1923. Serial No. 650,080.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD B. WARREN, a 'citizen of the United States, residing at Long Beach, in the county of Los Angeles 6 and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tourists Travel Indicators, of which the following is a specification. This invention relates to tourists travel W indicators and has for an object the provision of a holder or casing which is of novel construction and adapted to carry a strip of paper, or other flexible material, having printed or otherwise delineated thereon-inlf formation pertinent to the sections of country lying in the path of a travel, and which information may be immediately obtained by consultin the indicator.

Many gui es and road maps are now furnished by different associations throughout the country, but the information they contain is very often dificult to obtain by a tourist, for it is necessary to open and 5 read the map out before it can be used, an such cannot be accomplished unless the car is stopped, in order to eliminate the interference of the wind, which makes the use of such maps objectionable.

lit is therefore the primary object of this an invention to provide an indicator which is simple and compact in construction and which is suitable for carrying in the pocket of a traveler, having no objectionable projections thereon; and, to provide an indi- 85 cator embodying novel means for actuating the strip of flexible material, containing the desired information, thereby making it convenient to carry and easy to operate.

Other objects and advantages will appear at in the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification, and in which drawings similar reference characters designate corresponding parts through- 15 out the several views:

Figure 1 is a face view of an indicator constructed according to my invention. Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary bottom plan l view of the casing with parts shown in section.

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of'the indicator taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a transverse section taken on the line 55 of Figure 1.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown the preferred embodiment of my invention, the letter A indicates a casing; B, winding or operatin means positioned within the casing A; and C, a flexible strip or tape adapted to be moved longitudinally within the casing A. by the operating means B.

e casing A may be formed of any material, such as sheet metal, so as to provide a comparatively light, yet strong and durable structure. It preferabl comprises a pair of companion members do ning a body portion 16 and a cover 7 therefor. These companion members are hin edly connected at one end, as at 8 and provlded at the other end with a spring catch 9 for securely holding the members in a closed position. The side Walls 10 may be of arcuate configuration so as to present no sharp edges. The body ortion 6 may have an outwardly extening bead 11 near the upper marginal edge thereof providing a shoulder and limiting the downward movement of the cover 7. The cover 7 is provided with a sight opening 12, the'edges of the cover surrounding the sight openln 12 being inturned as at 13. A flexible diap anous panel 14 is ada ted to cover this view opening 12, having t e ends 15 extending beyond the end mar inal ed es of the sight opening 12 and positioned neath said inturned edges 13. The sides of this panel 14 have the corner portions thereof cut away and define retaining strips or flanges 16 which are adapted also to t beneath the 'inturned edges 13 and lie adjacent the side walls 10, thereby preventing sliding movement of the flexible panel 14. Longitudinally extendin aligned slots 17 are provided in both the body 6 and cover 7, adjacent the ends and side walls thereof and for a purpose to be subsequently set forth.

Referrin now to the winding or operating means which is positioned within the casing A, it preferably comprises spools or reels 18, extending transversely and rotatably mounted adjacent the ends of the easingA, each spool provided with a slot 19 to receive the end of an indicating strip or tape C in order that the same may be wound upon the spools 18. The outer ends 20 of the spools 18 are provided with trunlit ' and adjacent the ends thereof are flanges 24, which are adapted to operate the spools 21. The major rtion of the flanges 24 are positioned within the casing intermediate the side walls thereof, and these flanges extend through the aligned slots 17 in the body 6 and cover 7 and project beyond the outer faces thereof. The outer edges 25 of these flanges 24 may be milled, so that a firm grip may be obtained and render the rotation of the spools 18 easy.

The indicatin strip or tape Gas before stated is adapte to have printed or otherwise delineated thereon information pertinent to the sections of the country lying in the path of travel, and in the instance shown has listed the cities or towns between starting and terminal points, the distance between each of the towns as well as the distance from each town to a terminal point, also the population and principal resources. A space may be provided at intervals which ma be utilized for advertising space and sold to a merchant or manufacturer in that section of the country.

' When it is desired to use a travel indicator such as has been described, a tape already-upon a spool is selected bearing information rtinent to the trip to be taken. This s 001 is then rotatably mounted at one end 0 the casing A and has the free end of the tape inserted in the slot 19 of the spool which is rotatably mounted at the opposite end of the casing. The spools 18 are then actuated by means of the flanges 24 until the information carried by the tape is visible through sight openings in casing A. It can readily be seen that the flexible panel positioned beneath the inturned edges 13 of the cover 7 will be held against the strip or tape wound on at least one of the spools, thereby frictionally engaging the tape and not permit it to change POSltlOIlS' unless actuated by the flanges 24.. When the point has been reached which coincides with the last one visible thru the sight opening, the flange 24 is rotated, and a new section of tape brought into view relating to the next portion 0 the trip. When the end of the trip has been reached, the tape which will be wound on one of the spools will be removed from the casing and a new one per- 00 tinent to whatever section it is desired 'to travel may be inserted.

From the foregoing description it can be seen that a travel indicator has been provided which is neat and attractive in appearance, compact and easy to carry, and which can be held and operated by one hand, leavin the other hand free to steer a vehicle s ould it be desired to use it while the vehicle is in motion.

Various changes in the sha e, size and arrangement may be made wit out departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A travel indicator comprising a casing havin a body portion and a cover for the body aving a sight openin therein, the body having end and side walls bent to provide longitudinally extending internal recesses and external beads for limiting closing movement of the cover onto the body, strips fittin in the body against the side walls thereo and having ribs fitting into the recesses of the side walls to retain the strips in place when the cover is in an open position, spools disposed within said casing having their outer ends provided with trunnions journalled in said strips, operatin flanges carried by said spools adjacent the trunnion ends thereof and disposed in the casing intermediate the side walls thereof, and an indicating strip connectin said spools having indicia thereon visible t rough said sight opening. as

2. A travel indicator comprising a casing including a pair of companion members, one of said members having a sight opening therein, said member having its ed es surrounding said sight opening inturne trans- 1 0 versely extending rotatably mounted spools within said casing, operatin flanges carried b said spools adjacent t e ends thereof an disposed in the casin intermediate theside walls thereof, said anges project- 106 ing through slots in the companion members beyond the outer faces thereof, an indicating strip connecting said spools and windable thereon, said strip havin indicia thereon and visible through said sight opening, and 110 a flexible diaphanous panel covering said sight opening and extending beyond the ends thereof and having side tongues extending between the flanges of the rollers and held in frictional en agement with said 115 strip by said inturned ges.

EDWARD B. WARREN. 

